TOPWL 243

Jepetto’s body shook. His eldest son stood by the gallows, bound and slumped in defeat. The sight drained the strength from Jepetto’s limbs, and he stumbled. Kani threw her entire weight against him to keep him from falling.

“Mister!”

“Kani, something is wrong. My son… he has no reason to be up there. Does he?”

A fire burned in his gut. His chest felt so tight he couldn’t stand it. Jepetto clawed at his shirt, his fingers bunching the fabric as he fought for air. A ragged, guttural sound escaped his throat.

“Mister…”

Kani, who had known this before he arrived, looked on the verge of tears. Jepetto stared at his son, his eyes wide and unblinking, as if looking hard enough could force this nightmare to dissolve.

A man stepped to the front of the gallows. It was the Commander of the Royal Guard, the king’s personal protector and the superior of Jepetto’s son. He scanned the crowd with a cold, detached gaze.

“Before the late King passed, Prince Valterian Aldev de Lumien Gotha formally inherited the throne. Yet these men supported the regicide, Darham Alterion de Lumien Gotha. They committed an atrocity by opening the rear gates, allowing the Empire to trample our sacred soil. This is high treason, a crime that warrants no mercy.”

The Commander looked to his side. There stood Valterian, the first prince. He [stolen content]wore the crimson mantle of a king and looked down at the crowd with arrogant eyes.

“Therefore, all are sentenced to death by hanging. The traitors should be grateful for His Majesty’s benevolence in granting them an end without the rack.”

The Captain of the Guard fell to his knees before the King.

“Your Majesty, it is only right that we are punished for our sins. But opening the gates was my decision alone. My subordinates are innocent. There are over five hundred guards here. If you count their families, thousands will wail for their deaths. They are all your subjects. I beg of you, look upon them with pity just this once.”

Valterian’s eyebrow arched at the plea.

“You make a fair point.”

“Your Majesty!” Hope flickered in the Captain’s eyes.

“Even a traitor has those who would mourn him. Isn’t that so, Captain?”

“Yes, it is. So please, have mercy…”

“The solution, then, is simple,” [stolen content]Valterian interrupted. “I must ensure there is no one left to mourn them.”

“…What?”

“Treason is a rot that must be cut out at the root. If everyone dies, there will be no grief. Commander, dispatch the troops immediately. Round up the families of every guard. Parents, siblings, and children. Wipe out three generations.”

“It shall be done.”

“Your Majesty!”

The Captain’s voice was a scream of agony. Valterian rose from his seat, looking as though the horror in the square was merely a play put on for his entertainment.

“I have been deeply disappointed by my subjects during this war. While the Imperial Army sought to tear down our walls, not one of you thought to poison their wells. Not one of you raised a stone against the invaders.”

The square fell into a terrifying silence. Those at the edges tried to slip away, but the Royal Guard had already moved to block the exits. The plaza had become a cage.

“According to the ancient doctrines, a kingdom exists to protect its people,” Valterian said. “That is true. But should the people not also rise when their kingdom is in peril?”

A man near the front spoke up, his voice trembling. “We… we did not know. The Second Prince held the visit our siteroyal seal, so we thought… Argh!”

Before the man could finish, Valterian flicked his wrist. A dagger hissed through the air. The man lurched to the side, and the blade buried itself in the dirt with a vibrating hum.

“The traitor, not the Prince. Isn’t that right?”

“Y-yes. The traitor. My apologies, Sire,” the man stammered, his face turning a sickly shade of grey.

Valterian narrowed his eyes, annoyed that the blade had missed its mark. “You claim you did not know. Commander, I find ignorance to be a particularly foul crime. What do you think?”

“I am of the same mind, Your Majesty.”

With the practiced ease of a man who lived to appease his master, the Commander of the Royal Guard spoke. A smug, satisfied expression took over Valterian’s face.

“I knew the Commander and I shared a certain… clarity. Yes, ignorance is a crime. Besides, the difference in station between myself and the Second Prince is as vast as the heavens and the earth. How could anyone not see that? Whether he holds the seal or the palace itself, that low-born trash will never be a king.”

A heavy silence followed, broken only by the sound of Valterian pacing the balcony.

“Furthermore, you all stood [unauthorized copy]by and watched as the Imperial Army prepared to trample this very palace, didn’t you?”

No one dared to answer.

“That silence makes every one of you a traitor,” Valterian said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Seize them.”

The square erupted. Screams of terror tore through the air as the Royal Guard and the knights moved as one, forming a tightening circle around the panicked crowd. Spears bristled behind a wall of shields, closing in like the teeth of a trap.

People were shoved back by the shields or grazed by the spear tips, but neither the knights nor their King spared them a glance. Within moments, the townspeople were pinned, trapped in the center of the plaza with nowhere to run.

“Those who slunk away when the castle was under siege come crawling to the square the moment there’s a spectacle to behold. I suppose you’ve earned this,” Valterian said with a cold smile.

“Your Majesty! You cannot do this! Have mercy, I beg of you!” the Captain of the Guard cried out, his voice cracking with desperation.

Valterian turned a look of pure loathing toward him. “A man who is about to become a corpse certainly has a long tongue.”

“The war is not over! If you slaughter the people of the capital like this, you put your own life at risk. Please, mercy…!”

“Hmm. You might have a point there.”

Valterian stood and began to descend toward the Captain. The Captain’s body betrayed him, shaking with primal fear, yet he forced himself to meet the Prince’s eyes.

“But tell me,” Valterian said, coming to a halt just inches away. “Why do you worry so much about what happens after you’re dead?”

Before the sentence fully landed, Valterian’s sword left its scabbard in a blur of steel. A thin red line appeared on the Captain’s neck. A second later, blood erupted in a spray. The Captain’s mouth worked like a fish pulled from water, gasping for a breath he could no longer take, before he fell into a heap on the stone.

The square went deathly still. The frantic scrambling ceased as people watched the pool of blood spread in a perfect, dark circle around the fallen man’s head.

The sight of the blood seemed to trigger something in Valterian. His breathing became shallow and fast. He stared at the red staining his blade for a moment before turning to the two guards tied next to the Captain. With two swift, fluid motions, he opened their throats as well.

Gurgling sounds filled the silence.

Valterian didn’t stop. He began to move down the line of bound guards as if he were simply passing the time. He cut throats until he grew bored of the repetition, then switched to thrusting his blade through hearts or piercing eyes to reach the brain. Those who died instantly were the lucky ones. Most were left to writhe against their ropes, their bodies jerking in agony for minutes before finally going still. They were trapped by their bonds, unable to even crawl away from the butcher. The crowd watched in a state of paralyzed, waking horror.

“This is losing its charm,” Valterian remarked, shrugging as he sheathed his sword. He had taken nearly twenty lives in a matter of minutes. He began to scan the faces in the crowd, his eyes landing on a specific spot.

“Even in a pile of trash, one can find something of use.”

His gaze had locked onto Kani, who was weeping as she tried to hide in the folds of Jepetto’s clothes. Valterian nodded to his men. A guardsman walked forward and snatched Kani by the wrist.

“No! Mister, help me!”

Kani struggled , her small fingers digging into Jepetto’s arms, but the soldier cruelly tore her away. He hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Terrified, she reached out toward Jepetto.

“Kani!”

Jepetto didn’t think. He threw himself at the guard and swung a heavy, calloused fist. It was a blow delivered with the strength of a father who had raised two soldiers. The guard, caught completely off guard, stumbled and fell, sent sprawling to the ground with Kani.

“Kani, run!”

Kani scrambled to her feet and vanished into the crowd.

Valterian let out a delighted cackle. He watched the spot where she had disappeared as if he were watching a particularly clever hound.

“Look at that. Bring that little thing to me. Whoever catches her can leave this square alive.”